Haunting The Ancient
by Eluding Enigma
Summary: A new life and a visit to an old place. Who knew that it could end in such a way?
1. Chapter 1

_**I don't own Kannazuki no miko  
>I just thought that this could make a good story and decided to type it up...<strong>_

_**Chapter 1  
>Memories<br>**_A trip to the Ogami shrine seemed to be having more of an emotional than educational effect on a certain girl. Walking through the dimly lit caves leading to the main shrine, Kurusugawa Himeko lagged behind. Somehow, her surroundings seemed so familiar. Though the junctions leading to the shrine itself were complex, and the class would undoubtedly be lost within minutes if it wasn't for Ogami Kazuki leading them, the girl felt like she could easily navigate herself though the taverns and reach wherever she wished to go.

"Hi-me-ko! Hurry up!" From a good few feet in front of her, an impatient athlete hollered over her shoulder. The yell echoed throughout the tavern. Shaking of the strange, almost homely feeling, she hurried foward to join her friend.

"You've always got your head up in the clouds!" Rolling her eyes, Saotome Makoto sighed as her only answer was a distant mumble. Matching her pace for a few moments, Himeko let her gaze wander to the walls surrounding them, a few flaming torches, straight from a cliche` horror movie, hung on either wall every twenty feet or so, providing less light than was needed. The dirt path beneath their feet kicked up a small cloud of dust when Mako scuffed her toes against the ground. She ceased when she saw the mess she was causing.

"Hey, look! It's the shrine ritual thing!" Grabbing her arm and pointing to their left, the aubrun haired a girl looked in fascination at the shrine itself, a ceremonial fire clearly situated before it, a roaring blaze once searing away, though now it was long extinguished. Though she doubted that was what held her friends attention so well. Around the path leading to the charred spot on the floor, swords and broken blades jutted from the ground, seeming to be burried deep. Swords mostly hidden deep in the earth, only a few inches of the actual blades was shown. Some stuck straight from the ground while others jutted at odd angles, clearly blunt.

Dragging her closer, Mako appeared eager to gain a better look. Looking excited, the athlete spoke eagerly. But her words wern't heard. Himeko's eyes widened and her throat went dry as she looked at the shrine. A girl...white robes edged with crimson...a miko? Why did she look so similar to herself? Clutching a sword that appeared to be made of straw, she could see that the young miko was chanting something. A ceremony? In the haze that had desended her vision, the scorched suddenly earth blazed, flames dancing high enough to brush the roof. However, the miko didn't seemed at all fazed, besides from a slight wince from being so close to the fire. Wait! There was someone else...On the other side of the flames, the end of another robe became once again, but this time edged with a deep purple. Another miko, but who-

"Hey! Are you even listening to me? God, I give up with you!" Turning in a fake huff, her friend stormed of. She was expected to follow. To apologize. Then her friend would laugh and slap her on the back, joking about her day dreaming. But Himeko couldn't follow. She wanted, no, _needed_ to know who the other girl sight was unfocused, almost like a far of memory. Her focus fading away, she squinted, trying frantically to see who the other person was. Stepping foward, she rested her right hand some form of bar, leaning closer. It was too risky to walk to the extinguished fire in the hope of seeing things clearer, for it could scatter the vision away.

The other miko was moving, yes, almost in her line of vision...Taller than herself, and she could just about catch a glimpse of long, dark hair. Closer, she needed to get closer. She strained herself foward...and lost her grip. Her hand slid down, and a searing pain raced through her palm. A startled yelp tore from her throat, and she pulled her hand away, standing straight.

Looking up, she saw what had happened. Apparently, she had been gripping a blade this whole time. But the blade was blatantly blunt. Coated in a thick, copper rust, there was no way that it could have cut through her palm like a razor through hot butter...Then why was scarlet blood dripping onto the ground beneath her? Why did she feel so very, very dizzy? Opening her fist, she looked to the wound. She gasped. But the gawping slit starting at her plam and running to her fingers wasn't what surprised her. Purple. Purple was seeping towards the gash. Before an attempt to brush the mystery substance away could be made, it leaked into the cut. Agony. Pure and painful agony rushed though her entire body. She screamed as she felt her legs go weak and darkness settled in.

Semi-conscious, she could feel the dull throb of pain as something soft was pressed against her hand. Faint murmurs.

"What's going on! Let me...What happened?" Someone dropped to the dirt beside her.

"I'm not certain, I heard a scream and when I reached her, she was like this. She's slit her palm quite badly and I think the pain was too great for her to bare." A calm voice replied to the uneasy other. Vaguely aware of being held, an arm around her waist and holding her up, while another seemed to be holding her wounded hand. Leaning against someone in a firm hold.

"Will she be okay?" The reply to the worried voice was a groan. She stirred.

"Himeko?" A soft voice questioned, trying to coax her back to consciousness. Leadened eyelides opened halfway. A nervous athelte sprawled by her feet, chewing her lip. A childhood friend standing awkwardly near, looking down upon her with great worry. Concerned blue eyes gazed at her intently, their owner tightning her grip around her waist. Images flashed though her mind, distant and hard to see. Himemiya Chikane, a good few years younger than she was now, perhaps thirteen or a year or so younger, hair tied back and dressed in tennis whites, clutching a trophy, grinning in victory.

Another memory, a poetry recital...Japan's champion. Kendo tournaments...Archery, martial arts sparring...The rose garden where they first met, the surprise of someone finding her secret place where she hid during lunch, the agravation of knowing that she could no longer go there, the relief of finding someone who wasn't intimidated by her status. The strange, unknown feeling as she grasped the mysterious girls hand in her own as Chikane helped the girl to her feet. The bliss of talking to someone normally, without a care in the world.

"Chikane chan..." Her eyes dropping shut once more, Himeko went limp. 


	2. Chapter 2

_**I don't own Kannazuki no miko  
>The next installment of this story, so without futher adieu, here it is.<strong>_

_**Chapter 2  
>Confusion<br>**_An metallic, copper like taste tainted Kurusugawa Himeko's taste buds. The strange images that had flashed before her eyes before had ceased. How long ago was it that she had saw them? A few minutes? A few seconds? She couldn't be certain. She battled to come back into reality, but could only manage to become more aware of her surroundings. She was lying flat on her back now, though the ground beneath her seemed soft. Something poked her cheek. A hazy memory of staring down at a test paper with a grade that left alot to be desired was all that she could see before the contact was broken.

"She's been out for ages now...I'm sorry for putting you out like this, Miya sama." A voice that was usually loud and slightly arrogant was now toned down, almost shy.

"It's fine, really. Besides, I'm truly worried about her. I've never seen her so pale before and she still hasn't awoken." Again, that soft voice. Calm, yet so full of worry. "I'm starting to wonder if she's sick...You're her roommate, are you not? Did she seem ill earlier on?"

"She seemed fine to me. Well, before she passed out she was kinda spacing out, more so than usual. Wait a minute...Forgive me for asking, but how do you know that I'm her roommate?" The person to her left was recognized by her curious tone, it seemed that the athlete was yet to leave her side. There was a moment of silence before there was a reply.

"Well, we've spoken on more than one occasion..." A stoic girl spoke from her right, sounding almost reluctant to admit the truth.

"You two talk? But how? I mean, she always vanishes of to some unknown place at lunch and-" Mako broke of her sentence, a small gasp of realization confirming that she had finished putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Please, keep this quiet. I know that she gets a hard enough time as it is from others." A rustle of cloth signified that her bestfriend was nodding. "Thank you. She's quite flushed...I think she might have a fever..." An uneasy silence fell over them, and the unconscious girl stirred, feeling her eyes flicker beneath their lids. A small groan of both pain and confusion tumbled from her lips. Eyes opening halfway, she blinked. Something came to rest against her forehead. God, not again. Her features crumpled in displeasure.

Once again, she was being held. This time, however, she was wearing the robes that she had seen the miko wearing earlier. Being held by the other miko that she hadn't seen, even now, she couldn't make out their face, for dark hair hung down and masked their face. The girl in the red robes seemed to have been maimed, that much was made clear by the deep red patch staining the front of her white robes. Leaning up and weakly wrapping an arm around the dark haired girls neck, she offered a faint smile, whispering something that must have been shocking. For the one in purple jolted slightly, a single tear falling from beneath her fringe and dripping onto the blonds cheek. Without a word, she leaned down and placed her lips over those of the wounded girls, just as her eyes closed and her final breath left her.

Without warning, her eyes shot open. A startled yelp was all she could muster as she found herself face to face with Himemiya Chikane, their foreheads resting together. Springing backwards upon feeling something splatter across her cheek, Himeko could see a hue of pink spreading across the girls cheeks. Raising her hand and pressing it against the moisture, her friend did a double take as she saw a crimson smear across her finger tips.

"Himeko...Did you just cough that up?" The worried tone of her roommates voice reminded her that she wasn't alone with Chikane. She opened her mouth to reply, but a stinging pain flared as she did so.

"I-I think I bit my tongue," she mumbled, her speech slightly slurred as she sat up. "What happened? Where am I?" Looking around the foreign room, clearly perplexed, she leaned on her hand before crying out in pain and jerking it upwards from the futon she lay on. Looking down, she found that it was wrapped to the wrist in a white bandage, blood beginning to become visible from putting pressure on the wound beneath it.

"From what I heard, you cut your hand and passed out," Mako informed, wincing as she watched blood seep to the surface of the wounds dressing. She glanced over to the dark haired girl for further detail.

"To keep things simple, that's all I know for certain. I heard you scream, I ran to reach you, but by that time you had fainted." Chikane tried to force the memory from her mind, the feeling of utter dread that she had felt apon hearing such a shriek, how fear hand almost rendered her to her knees apon dashing around a corner to find the one she loved sprawled on the ground, unconscious with blood slowly pooling beside her. Thankfully, those feelings were overwhelmed by pure relief as she found that the blood was only coming from a small gash on her beloveds hand, and that she had merely fainted.

"You're lucky, she carried you out of the shrine and back here!" Mako chimed in, seemingly oblivous in noticing to the lack of colour on the once blushing Himemiya's cheeks.

Looking over to the latter, Himeko was about to thank her before remembering what she had awoken to.

"Thank you, Chikane chan, but why were you...I mean when I woke up..." She trailed of, for a moment wondering if, like the girl in her odd delusion of a dream, she was about to be kissed...

"You where out for over three hours, I thought that you might have had a fever...People don't usually faint from shock and stay out of consciousness for that long. Evidently, you're burning up." Swallowing the lump in her throat, Chikane was amazed how steady her voice sounded. However, what she had said was true. The blond had a terrible fever, not to mention that whilst taking her temperature, she could feel the film of cold sweat that lay across Himeko's brow.

"Now that you mention it...She really doesn't look too good," looking her roommate up an down, Mako looked skeptical about her being in good health.

How could she have thought that Chikane was going to kiss her? She must have been having a terrible fever dream. Suddenly feeling at a loss for any strength, she slouched over slightly.

"I'll be fine..." Her voice sounded weaker than she intended it to.

"To Hell you will! Lie back down, I'm going to go asked Ogami san what's up with those swords, you were fine earlier. Miya Sama, can you keep an eye on her?" Raising to her feet, Saotome Makoto looked determined to maintain her friends consciousness. A brief nod was her answer, and, with that, she turned and walked from the room.

"Really, I swear I'm okay..." Trying to inject some energy into her sentence, Himeko failed miserably. She didn't try to stay upright as Chikane lay a hand on her shoulder and gently eased her back on the futon.

"Try to get some rest. I'll look after you." Those were the last words she heard before the world around her went dark once again, as a few incoherent snapshots of the past flashed in her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

_**I dont own Kannazuki no miko  
>Out of boredom, which I have yet again fallen captive to, and meetings being postponed until 2 hours later, I am updating this scribble. It's liable to be mundane and repetitive, but it's mainly filler.<strong>_

_**Chapter 3  
>Back to the present<br>**_A panting, slightly agravated looking auburn haired girl arrived back at the door of the room within five minutes of her departure to find Ogami Kazuki. "I think they've gone really deep into the taverns, and I don't want too go to far in case I end up getting lost." She informed, looking down in concern at her friend who had either fainted once again or had been engulfed in a deep slumber.

"I suppose we'll just have to wait until they finish looking around. She's asleep, but I'm not sure if that's a good or bad sign." Biting her lower lip, Himemiya Chikane brushed the matted hair of the blonds fringe from her eyes. "I think that she may have just caught the flu, or something similar...It might just be coincidental that it hit her after she cut her hand."

The runner raised an eyebrow as she saw how worried the girl before her truly was. It was strange enough that her and Himeko spoke often, but the Himemiya looked as concerned as Mako felt...Maybe even more so.

"I guess that it's all we can hope for at this point...Shouldn't we wake her to drink something? She looks really dehydrated, and I was always told to drink alot when I was sick." Nodding down to the bottle of water in her grasp, Makoto looked questionable. Eyes occasionally opening a fraction of an inch, before dropping shut again from sheer exhaustion, a drained blond could just about make sense of her surroundings. Hearing movement above her, she didn't think anything odd was on the brink of occurring.

"I doubt she'd wake easily, even if we tried." It was only upon hearing Mako draw in a breath in anticipation and disbelief that Himeko realized that something – most likely unpleasant- was about to happen. She tried to open her eyes fully, to see what was happening, but she calmed as she heard Chikane gulp from the water bottle. So they were giving up on trying to wake her, that was it? A ghost of a smile crossed her lips at how uneasy she was. Relaxing considerably, she thought she was dreaming when something pressed against her lips. Wait a moment, this wasn't a dream...This was real. Something really _was_ against her lips. Someone was...Kissing her?

No, what was this trickling into her mouth? Water? Opening her mouth slightly, she felt the water pass through to her. Arching upwards, she swallowed the liquid with a slight difficulty, thanks to lying down. However, she did not relax back down to the futon again straight away. Staying upwards for a few moments longer than she really should have, she did her best to maintain the contact between their lips. Struggling to stay silent and pretend that she was still asleep, Himeko scrunched her eyes shut as she felt the other girls tongue run across her lower lip, wiping away the excess water before she began to pull back. It appeared that the other was reluctant to part as well, lingering for a few more seconds than needed, their lips not parting until the very last scrap of energy abandoned Himeko and she flopped back onto the futon, lips no longer chapped and dry from the contact, throat soothed from the cool water.

"W-well, that's one way to drink...But, Miya sama, what if you catch whatever it is she has?" The unsteady voice, clogged with shock reminded her that, though once again forgotten, Saotome Makoto was still in the room, and had bore witness to whatever on Earth had just happened.

"I'm sure I'll be fine. What matters is that she recoveres...I'm going to go find Ogami san, and find out how much longer we have to wait until she can return to the dorms." Raising to her feet without awaiting a reply, not quite believing what she had just done, Chikane hastily made an exit. Questions needed to be answered. Groaning, Himeko forced herself to open her eyes.

"Mako chan..." Looking up at the athlete who leaned over her, she could barely see past the haze that hung over her vision.

"Figures that you'd wake up after the biggest shocker of the year." Rolling her eyes fondly and speaking softly, an amusment evident on her face, Mako looked down at her ill bestfriend. A look of confusion was her only answer.

"Miya sama just made out with you!" With a weak, slightly scolding tone, the athlete playfully prodded her friends shoulder.

Images...Memories...What ever they were, they were running through her head at an unruly pace. Over them, she could barely hear what was being said, couldn't even string a decent line of thought together. Apon feeling the light prod, somehow, thankfully, everything grinded to a hault. Gasping sharply as everything calmed, as she realized that she could compose a basic thought, Himeko drew a look of utmost worry from Mako.

"What is it? Did I hurt you? I'm sorry!" Appearing to be ridiculously jumpy and on edge, the auburn haired girl bit her lip as Himeko swifty sat up straight, eyes wide as everything came back together. "Easy! Lie back down, don't over do it!"

"Mako chan, I'm fine." Pushing her fringe out of her eyes, feeling a cold sweat clinging to her, the blond could feel herself growing less tired, strength returning to her. "Really," she added, giving her roommate a weak smile, her voice no longer shaky as it once was.

"Wait a minute! If you're fine now...Then that means that you played the sick and tired girl to get some attention...That was your plan all along, wasn't it? You just wanted to see what Miya sama would do! ...Or should I say `Chikane chan?' Grinnning mischievously, and taking advantage of Himeko regaining her strength, Mako chuckled and lightly slapped the blond on the back in an congratulatory manner. "Well, your plan worked, if I do say so myself. She just made out with you...Well, helped you to drink. But I still think it counts as a kiss, it _was_ lips against lips, after all."

Was what the runner saying true, did that count as a kiss? Her first kiss, with another girl? It couldn't be, could it? Almost as if in answer, Chikane glanced around the door.

"Everyone's going back to the school now, and – Himeko, are you feeling better now?" Blinking in surprise as she found her beloved sitting up, wide awake, the Himemiya raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm fine now..." Feeling heat rising to her cheeks, she forced herself to look away. Mako kept her lips sealed, doing her best not to laugh.

"Are you sure? You're still quite flushed-"

"Honestly, I'm fine." Refusing to look up as realization slowly dawned on her, Himeko looked down into her lap. It wasn't the strange illness that had cured itself with in a few hours that had scared her. Or the strange memories. It was what she _knew_ that scared her. From what she had saw in those random, barely legible, images. _She _was that miko from earlier. The other mysterious miko was Chikane. But worst of all...She enjoyed that kiss. 


	4. Chapter 4

_**I don't own Kannazuki no miko  
>Sick day. In other words, update time. No point in wasting a few hours of free time, is there now? Excuse the filler.<strong>_

_**Chapter 4  
>What on Earth?<br>**_A warm shower appeared to be a good idea. For obvious reasons, Saotome Makoto asked no questions, as she expected that it was just a normal act. In reality, Himeko was just using it as an excuse to think about what had happened earlier without having to endure questioning and teasing from her roommate. That, and there was still a clammy sweat clinging to her, making it impossible to feel even remotely comfortable.

What had happened earlier? Mako said that she figured it was a weird, twenty gour hour bug, or something similar. That may be, but what about those dreams? Or were they hallucinations? Was it just delusional fever dreams, or did they have some form of meaning? They seemed to confusing, to scattered, without any explanation to make any real sense. Actually, now that she thought about it, the third delusion...It certainly made her wonder. Ignoring all the odd circumstances, why - of all the things to imagine – did she think about _kissing_ someone?

More to the point, why had she thought about kissing _her?_ Himeko didn't know. What she _did_ know was, that for some, unknown and incredibly embarrassing reason, when it actually happened...she liked it. Loved it, even. Grabbing a towel from the railing beside the shower, she began to towel herself dry, not any clearer on the circumstances. Pulling on the over sized shirt she wore to bed, she opened the door and slouched back into the bedroom.

"Good shower?" Mako panted from the floor, sitting up before lowering herself back down, repeating the process.

"How many?" Himeko asked, ignoring the question that would end up leading to a negative answer.

"Ninety nine...A hundred!" Was her answer, followed by the athlete collapsing back to the floor, gasping for breath. "You didn't answer my question, by the way. Or are you just deliberately ignoring it because there's something you're not telling me?" Dragging herself up and dropping down on the edge of her bed, Mako looked at her questionably.

"I just...I don't know what to think," she murmured in defeat. Her roommate beckoned to the space on the bed beside her, and Himeko reluctantly moved across the room and sat down by her side.

"I thought you were _supposed_ to be feeling better! Honestly, if you still felt dodgy you should have said instead of acting fine and then getting all jumpy when Miya sama asks if you're feeling okay!" Rolling her eyes and sighing, Makoto shook her head at her friend. When she looked up, awaiting her answer, she looked concerned.

"It's not that, I do feel better. Wait, I wasn't that bad around her, was I? I mean, I thought I was just nervous at worst..." Seeing the amused look she got from the runner, she broke of her sentence.

"Himeko, there's acting nervous, and then there's acting blatantly terrified. Hey, if you're feeling better, then what's bugging you?" Recalling how the blond had turned a shocking shade of scarlet and jumped back when the Himemiya layed a hand on her shoulder, Mako looked serious, genuinely worried about her bestfriend.

"I don't know why but...When she kissed me...I liked it. _Really _liked it." Himeko looked away, avoiding her friends gaze. Wonderful, not only was she cluelss to what was going on inside her own mind, but she had made a complete fool of herself. Surely she would be thought of as a freak, but it was still a relief to talk to someone about it. The reply she got was shocking, to say the least. Mako stared at her blankly. Her jaw went slack. Then she burst into hysterics.

"_That's_ it? Of course you liked it, I mean, come _on!_ It's Miya sama, she could make any girl have second thoughts!" Placing a hand over her mouth in an attempt to cease her laughing spasms, the athlete ended up snorting at Himeko's surprised expression. "You looked so serious, I thought it was something big! You kissed her and liked it, so would any normal person. I bet that you could kiss any other girl, and you wouldn't like it. It was just a one of, so don't let it upset you." Somehow going from laughing and teasing her, to giving good advice in a few seconds, she was utterly perplexed at the auburn haired girls behaviour.

"But...If I could, I'd do it again." She spoke truthfully before she could stop herself.

"So would anybody!" Mako seemed oblivous. To her, Chikane was just Miya sama. To Himeko, she was someone she had known for the past three years. Someone she had met by accident, but had established a friendship with. She didn't want to kiss her again because she was Miya sama. She wanted to kiss her again because she was Chikane. And it terrified her. What was happening? How did things end up like this?

"You look terrible." Ever the bluntest girl in the school. "Look, it's been a long day, and you're probably still feeling a bit weird from earlier. Best thing I can think of is to get some sleep, things will be better in the morning." Still not having a single clue what was wrong with Himeko, but sensing her discomfort, Mako did her best to be supportive. Patting her on the shoulder, the runner grinned in a reassuring manner. Sleep seemed to be a decent distraction...So long as it was free from what it was rich in earlier. 


	5. Chapter 5

_**I don't own Kannazuki no miko  
>Sorry for the delay, but I've been a bit preoccupied. Well, here's the update, so enjoy!<strong>_

_**Chapter 5  
>The strange and the disturbing<br>**_Classes were a blind haze. The headaches may have gone, as well as the cold sweats and the worst of the delusions, and yet...Something just wasn't right. It wasn't just the puzzle of the dreams that had resembled those of a fever, leaving her drained and weak, it was the things that she had seen. She knew that it probably meant nothing, and as she told herself for the hundredth time that she was being foolish for dwelling in the past, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was on the verge of happening. Something serious. Terrible. 

It didn't help that things were getting odder by the minute. When was the last time Mako vanished without a trace? Usually she would be sitting beside her, playfully teasing her and distracting her during classes. It really wasn't helping the churning feeling in her stomach. The shrill ringing of the bell outside the classroom shattered her thoughts. Bringing herself back into reality, Himeko stood from her seat and dragged herself from the room. Nothing of interest caught her eye, the day itself seemed to be rather mundane. Besides from avoiding Chikane in the name of embarrassment – and, luckily they couldn't spend lunch together because of a student council meeting.

It wasn't that she didn't want to meet up with Chikane as usual, she didn't want to end their friendship or anything like that. Things were just still a bit to awkward to see her. No what she had seen, the kiss. Or what felt like a kiss, who knew for certain? She just needed a while to gather her thoughts, to compose herself and calm down. She really should have stayed behind in one of the classes and study, like most others did, God knows that she her grades left enough to be desired. But right now, she just wanted to go back to her room and relax. Walking through the front doors, only a few others walked around the courtyard. It seemed that the cram classes were getting more and more popular, most likely because tests were approaching. About to round around the corner, she froze. Somebody was talking, but she knew that voice.

"Dammit, Saotome, stop teasing..." They suddenly fell silent.

Though not one to pry, curiousity made her look around the corner. She wished she hadn't. She blinked in sheer astonishment, and she slowly turned a deep shade of scarlet. Pressed against the wall opposite was the one who always teased her because of being friends with Chikane. But that wasn't what made her jaw go slack. Izumi seemed to be oblivous to her surroundings, due to being caught up in a kiss. Could things be any more awkward? Yes, for it was _Mako_ who was kissing her. _Dear God._ Stuttering a few sounds of utter shock, she forced herself to move, turned on her heels and ran.

Running back the way she came, breaking into a sprint as she neared the corner of the main building, she turned to her left and continued to run, in the hopes that – if she ran fast enough – she could leave that sight behind her. However, her plan backfired. Not looking where she was going, she crashed into someone. It appeared that the one she had ran into had sharp reflexes, for they only stumbled backwards for a few paces, before they steadied themselves. Holding her in their arms, they stood up straight as she pulled back to apologize.

Out of the frying pan, into the oven. Before her stood a concerned looking Himemiya, who was still holding onto her forearms.

"Himeko, are you okay? Why were you running like that-" With her grasp being roughly shook off, the girl broke of her sentence. Face burning with embarrassment, she was about to run again. But that wouldn't solve anything, would it? She couldn't keep running away, even if she was trying to get over the surprise of her life and what had happened the previous day. Maybe if she just said things straight out, it would help, she didn't have anything to lose, so what was stopping her?

"Yesterday, when you had the water...I was awake." She regretted saying it aloud the second she saw a look of sheer dread cross her friends face. Yes, Chikane knew her actions were rash, to say the least. In fact, she had barely slept last night. She was too busy beating herself up about doing something like that without any consent. But when the idea crossed her mind, and to have an excuse to do so, she had broken under the temptation. Never again. If she had the chance to do it again, she wouldn't have. It was so sneaky and disrespectful, so flippant about something that was serious.  
><em><span><strong><br>**_Shame clawed at her insides.

"Chikane chan, it's okay." A soft touch to her shoulder brought her back into reality. "You were helping, I know that but I'm just embarrassed because I...I..." She trailed of with a heavy blush. There was no way that she could finish her sentence, she was thought to be strange enough as it was. "I'm not angry at you," that was the best ending for the sentence she could think of. It wasn't certain if it was good or bad luck when Chikane didn't have a chance to answer.

"I'm telling you, someone saw us! I heard them running away."

"I'm sure it was just your imagination. Besides, if anyone actually _did_ see, then I doubt they'd care."

Teeth sinking into her lower lip, Himeko turned to face the voices. Mako grinned in her usual manner, before seeing the look on her face.

"Oh my God...Himeko, you didn't see, did you?" The athlete looked uneasy for the first time that she knew had ever seen.

"I-It's none of my business," holding up her hands, to show that she pose no threat, Himeko looked at the pair meekly. "Honestly, I won't tell anyone!" Izumi burried her head in her hands. Of all the people to see her, it had to be the one who she had teased to no end for seeing her talking to Miya sama on a few occasions. Mako patted her on the shoulder.

"Thanks." The aubrurn haired girl smiled weakly at her bestfriend. "We should probably go...Leave you two to finish talking." Without waiting for an answer, Mako turned an headed in the opposite direction, steering the one beside her with her.

"Oh my..." Chikane put the pieces together. Himeko glanced over to her fearfully.

"Chikane chan, you won't tell, will you?" The Himemiya shook her head in return.

"It wouldn't be fair to talk about others like that. Besides, I'm sure that Saotome san didn't tell any others about _my_ actions last night." Her nervous look turned solemn. "I'm so sorry, I had no right to do such a thing."

"It's okay, I swear. I don't mind at all! Can we meet at lunch tomorrow?" Smiling meekly, Himeko grasped her friends hand. Relief flooded through her as she watched Chikane's expression soften and return her smile warmly.

"Of course. Nothing would please me more." _****_


End file.
